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Data Sheet 
PCapØ2A 
Single-chip Solution for Capacitance Measurement 
Volume 1: General Data and Front-end Description 
May 29, 2014, Version 1.6 
Document-No: DB_PCapØ2A_Vol1_en.pdf 
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PCapØ2A
 
P u b l i s h e d   b y   a c a m - m e s s e l e c t r o n i c   g m b h    
©acam-messelectronic gmbh 2014 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
L i m i t a t i o n   o f   L i a b i l i t y /  W a r r a n t y /   C o p y r i g h t    
 
The information and data contained in this document are believed to be accurate and 
reliable. acam assumes no liability for errors and gives no warranty representation or 
guarantee regarding the suitability of its products for any particular purpose due  to these 
specifications. Any information and data which may be provided in the document can and 
do vary in different applications, and actual performance may vary over time. All operating 
parameters must be validated for each customer application by customers’ technical 
experts. 
 
The information contained therein may be protected by copyright, patent, trademark 
and/or other intellectual property rights of acam. acam does not assume responsibility for 
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changes. “Preliminary” product information describes a product which is not in full 
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PCapØ2A
 
Content 
 
1  Overview .................................................................................................. 1-1 
1.1 
Features ............................................................................................. 1-1 
1.2  Applications ........................................................................................ 1-2 
1.3  Blockdiagram ...................................................................................... 1-2 
2  Characteristics & Specifications ................................................................... 2-1 
2.1 
Electrical Characteristics ....................................................................... 2-1 
2.2  CDC Precision ..................................................................................... 2-2 
2.3  RDC Precision ..................................................................................... 2-3 
2.4  Oscillators .......................................................................................... 2-4 
2.5  Power Consumption .............................................................................. 2-1 
2.6  Package Information ............................................................................. 2-2 
2.7  QFN Packages ..................................................................................... 2-4 
3  Converter Frontend .................................................................................... 3-1 
3.1  CDC, Capacitance-to-Digital Converter ...................................................... 3-1 
3.2  CDC Compensation Options .................................................................... 3-7 
3.3  CDC Important Parameters .................................................................... 3-9 
3.4  RDC Resistance-to-Digital Converter ...................................................... 3-12 
3.5  RDC Important Parameters .................................................................. 3-15 
4 
Interfaces (Serial & PDM/PWM) .................................................................. 4-1 
4.1 
4.2 
4.3 
4.4 
Serial Interfaces................................................................................... 4-1 
I²C Compatible Interface ........................................................................ 4-2 
SPI interface ....................................................................................... 4-3 
Special Timings .................................................................................... 4-5 
4.5  OTP Timings ........................................................................................ 4-7 
4.6  GPIO and PDM/PWM ......................................................................... 4-10 
4.7 
Interfaces Parameters ........................................................................ 4-15 
5  Configuration & Read Registers .................................................................... 5-1 
5.1  Configuration registers .......................................................................... 5-1 
5.2  Configuration Registers in Detail ............................................................. 5-4 
5.3  Oscillator Configuration ....................................................................... 5-20 
5.4 
Low Battery Detection (LBD) ................................................................ 5-21 
5.5  Read Registers .................................................................................. 5-22 
6  DSP & Memory.......................................................................................... 6-1 
6.1  Memory Map ....................................................................................... 6-2 
6.2  Memory Management ........................................................................... 6-3 
6.3  Getting started .................................................................................... 6-5 
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PCapØ2A
 
7  Miscellaneous ........................................................................................... 7-1 
7.1  Bug Report ......................................................................................... 7-1 
7.2 
7.3 
I²C Bug with POR directly after rd/wr OTP/SRAM ...................................... 7-1 
Limitation of Parameter2 ....................................................................... 7-1 
7.4  History ............................................................................................... 7-2 
 
 
2 
acam messelectronic gmbh - Friedrich-List-Str.4 - 76297 Stutensee - Germany - www.acam.de  
Member of the ams Group
PCapØ2A
1  Overview 
PCapØ2Y is a capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC) with integrated digital signal 
processor (DSP) for on-chip data post-processing. Its front end is based on acam‘s 
patented ® principle. This conversion principle offers outstanding flexibility  with 
respect to power consumption, resolution and speed. This datasheet describes  PCapØ2A, 
in its basic converter functionality. The DSP description is reduced to the standard 
firmware that calculates pure capacitance ratios. A detail ed DSP and memory description 
is given in datasheet volume 2. PCapØ2 can be used for single and differential sensors  in 
grounded and floating application. Compensation of internal and external stray  capacitance 
is implemented as well as for parallel resistance. Additionally, the temperature can be 
measured by means of internal thermistors or external sensors.  
1.1 
Features 
 Digital measuring principle in CMOS
 Dedicated ports for precision
technology
 Up to 8 capacitances in grounded mode
 Up to 4 capacitances in floating mode
temperature measurement (with Pt1000
sensors, the resolution is 0.005 K)
 Serial interface (SPI or IIC compatible)
(potential- free and with zero bias
voltage)
 Two 10/12/14/16 bit PDM/PWM
outputs for analog interfaces
Integrated reference capacitance 1 pF to
31 pF
Integrated discharge resistors up to
1 MOhm
 Self-boot capability
 Single power supply (2.1 to 3.6 V),
integrated 1.8 V regulator for improved
PSRR.
 Compensation of internal (grounded) and
Integrated voltage measurement
external parasitic capacities (floating)
 Pre-charge option for slow charging
 No need for a clock
 RISC processor core using Harvard architec-
 Self-test capability for differential sensors
ture:
 High resolution: up to 15 aF at 2.5 Hz
and 10 pF base capacitance or, 17 bit
resolution at 5 Hz with 100 pF base
capacitance and 10 pF excitation
 High measurement rate: up to 500 kHz
 Extremely low current consumption
possible: Down to 2.5 μA at 2.5 Hz with
13.1 bit resolution
 High stability with temperature, low
offset drift (down to 20 aF per Kelvin),
low gain drift when all compensation
options are activated.
 128 x 48/24 bit RAM Data (80x48 free)
 4k x 8 bit SRAM program memory for
high-speed operation (40 to 85 MHz)
 4k (+4k for ECC)x 8 bit OTP (one-time
programmable) program memory for
normal speed operation (up to 40 MHz)
 128 byte EEPROM for calibration data
and user data (serial number etc.)
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PCapØ2A
 Tilt sensors
 Angle sensors
 Wireless applications
 Level sensors
 Microphones
 MEMS sensors
®
1.2 
应用 
 Humidity sensors
 Position sensors
 Pressure sensors
 Force sensors
 Acceleration sensors
Inclination sensors
1.3 
框图 
图1-1框图
1-2
acam messelectronic gmbh - Friedrich-List-Str.4 - 76297 Stutensee - Germany - www.acam.de
RDCUnit(Temperature)4x Raw dataCDCUnit(Capacitance)17x Raw dataRAM128 wordsDSP48 bitConfigurationReg. ParameterReg. OTP4k x 8 bitSRAM4k x 8 bitEEPROM128 byte1.8V voltageregulatorOscillator Control UnitExt. Quartz      InternalIIC/SPIGPIOPDM/PWMPC0PC1PC2PC3PC4PC5PC6PC7PCAUXPT0PT1PT2REFIIC_ENINTNSCK_SCLSSN_PG0MISO_PG1MOSI_SDAPG2PG3PG4PG5VDD18VDD33OXIN  OXOUTInternal:PC8PC910µF4.7µFPTOUT10nFC0G3.3VMember of the ams Group
PCapØ2A
2  Characteristics & Specifications 
2.1 
Electrical Characteristics 
2.1.1 
Absolute Maximum Ratings 
Supply voltage VDD-to-GND  
- 0.3 to 4.0 V
Storage temperature Tstg  
- 55 to 150 °C
ESD rating (HBM), each pin  
> 2 kV
Junction temperature (Tj)  
max. 125 °C  
OTP Data Retention Period  
10 years at 95 °C temperature 
EEPROM Data Retention Period 
10 years at 95 °C temperature 
2.1.2 
Recommended Operating Conditions 
Table 2-1 Operating conditions 
Quantity 
Supply voltage 
Symbol  Remarks 
VDD
Min. 
2.1 
Typ. 
Max. 
3.6 
Unit 
V 
Vio_digital
Relative to ground 
- 0.6
3.3 
VDD +0.6 
V 
HIGH LOW 
LOW HIGH 
Between “VPP_OTP” port 
and ground. Do not expo-
se other ports to pro-
gramming voltage.  
Clock frequency for the 4-
wire SPI bus operation  
Speed (data rate) of the 
2-wire I²C bus operation
Bit hold time for OTP 
write  
Rise time of the input 
signal put to general-
purpose I/O 
Rise time of the output 
signal from a general-
purpose I/O 
MR1 
≤ 3.6 
0.3 * VDD
0.7 * VDD 
- 0.6
VDD +0.6 
≤ 3.6 
7.0 
V 
V 
6.5 
0 
0 
30 
20 
MHz 
100
kHz 
500 
500 
μs 
ns 
6 
t.b.d.
ns 
0 
40 
µs 
Digital 
port voltage 
Digital ports  
switching level 
Analog port 
voltage 
OTP 
Programming 
voltage 
Vio_analog 
VOTP 
SPI bus frequency 
fSPI-bus
I²C bus frequency 
OTP Bit hold time 
GPIO input rise 
time 
GPIO output rise 
time  
CDC discharge 
time 
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